Trump gets Supreme Court nod for voter citizenship checks weeks before midterms
The US Supreme Court has permitted the Trump administration to utilize a federal database to verify the citizenship status of registered voters. While the ruling allows for individual checks, the court maintained that broad voter-roll purges are prohibited in the weeks leading up to an election.
Why it matters
This decision impacts election administration and voter access, highlighting the ongoing tension between federal oversight and voting rights protections ahead of the midterms.
The US Supreme Court on Friday allowed the Trump administration to use a controversial federal database to help states check the citizenship status of registered voters, handing President Donald Trump a victory in his broader effort to increase federal involvement in election administration ahead of the midterm elections.The court's conservative majority lifted restrictions on the Trump administration's use of the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) programme, which allows officials to verify citizenship and immigration information.Critics have questioned the reliability of the data, warning that the system could result in US citizens being wrongly flagged or removed from voter rolls.The ruling came after a federal judge in June found the expanded use of the system illegal and said it violated Americans' privacy rights.
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